A transport and/or storage container designed particularly for a fluid and/or a fine grained loose material can comprise a container base in the form of a pallet with a mounting surface on planks positioned parallel to each other, a substantially rectangular parallelepiped inner container with rounded corners and edges and a supporting structure which surrounds the inner container at least peripherally.
The supporting structure can be a cage formed of a plurality of vertical steel rods and horizontal steel rods which are attached to each other at crossing points by welding.
The vertical steel bars are connected to upper and lower frames by welding.
The lower steel frame can have an L-shape cross section and is mounted on the supporting surface of the pallet with its horizontal flange. The method of attachment can be by screws and/or nails. Usually the pallet is composed of wood. It can also be made of a plastic material or metal, for example metal wire.
The support structure can be made from a standard steel mat.
The inner container can be a plastic tank, e.g. made by blow molding.
The upper steel frame can be made in a variety of ways in such a transport and/or storage container. It can have an L-shape cross section. It can also be a pipe or rod which has a passage for insertion of vertical steel rods or comprises one or more steel rods which form the support structure. The support structure can be reinforced by cross tie members or reinforcing rods which are attached to the upper steel frame after insertion of the plastic tank in the support structure.
In the scope of the invention a cover contacting on the plastic tank can be inserted on the support structure. The cover can be formed from a concrete steel reinforcing mat. It can be attached to the upper steel frame or held by it. The pallet is widely used and, even internationally, of standard size. Preferably a so-called four entrance pallet, i.e. a pallet with four entrances for the arms of the forklift truck. That is also true for the concrete steel mat.
The strength and stability of the known unit as taught in German Patent Document No. 30 39 635 are chiefly determined by the pallet and the lower and the upper steel frames while the support structure jacket contributes less to the strength and stability.
When the plastic tank has received a large mass, e.g. a fluid of a high specific gravity and a large transport load which have to be coped with in loading, the stability and the strength must necessarily be higher than normal. To improve strength and stability one can strengthen the structure described above. Unfortunately this is not possible at least when a standard steel mat is used since the standard pallet and support structure surface cannot be arbitrarily strengthened.